Gale POV
I'm on my way to the board meeting when suddenly I feel myself slamming against the wall. Completely taken by surprise, I stare down dumbfoundedly at Leilani Everdeen/Hunting.
"Uh, can I help you?" I ask blankly, still a little stunned and confused by her violent actions.
Leilani scowled at my seemingly sarcastic comment and whispered harshly. "Don't you feel guilty to any degree at all, Hawthorne?"
She doesn't have to say anything more for me to understand what is being implied.
"Of course!" I hiss back quietly. "I feel horrible! That's why I've been avoiding Katniss."
"No, you," She stabs her small finger into my chest. "Can not just avoid her. She needs you!"
"How can I ever look at her without remembering what I did? I basically murdered her sister! She'll never want to speak with me again." My voice is barely audible now. "So that's why I decided that I'm leaving."
Leilani's eyes widen as she absorbs what I said. "What?!" She seethes, her voice raising slightly. "You can't just leave her! You're her best friend!"
"Best friend?" I start angrily. "I've loved her for years, don't you dare say we are just mere friends!"
Friends. Ugh, the words leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Leilani takes a step toward me again fearlessly and careless of the fact I have five inches on her and I'm probably twice her weight. "Then if you love her, you'd stay here and be there for her like I've been trying to do these past few days."
She strides away casually, as if nothing had ever occurred, leaving me with the most conflicted feelings I've ever experienced.
Katniss POV
"Alright, let this board meeting come to order." President Coin's cold voice brings silence to the room. "First subject to discuss: Snow's execution."
Leilani is sitting next to her with a passive expression, taking notes here and there. Cayden is next to his wife with the same look. Peeta is across from me with two burly men on either side just incase he goes ballistic. Gale won't even meet my eyes and I know exactly why.
"Katniss," Coin's icy tone draws my attention back and I snap my head to face her. "Since you're the figurehead of all this, I thought it would be best if you were the one to end Snow. Any objections?"
I stiffly nod my head to acknowledge her.
"Alright, next subject. The Capitol residents...what ever should we do with those useless fools?" A few chuckles erupt throughout the table. "Well, I was thinking of giving them a taste of what they have been imposing on us for decades."
"And what do you mean by that President Coin?" Gale asks. I haven't heard his deep calming voice in days...
"A whole new Hunger Games just for the Capitol." She answers with a cruel smile playing on her lips. "I want this to be decided by our previous victors. Katniss, Peeta, what is your say on this?"
After a few moments, I come forth with my vote. "I say we do it."
"Whoa, wait." Gale stands up and is actually talking to me. "We worked our asses off to end the Games and now you want to start them again?"
"I agree with Katniss." Peeta interjects. "The Capitol needs to know what it's like."
Gale turns back to me with pain twisting his face. "This is not the Girl on Fire I knew." He muttered weakly before sitting down.
Leilani's reserved mask remains upon her face, but I caught a quick flicker of emotion in her deep brown eyes. She's angry at me and Peeta and I can tell I'm going to hear from her later.
"Then it's settled. We'll begin planning for the next Games after we fix most of our issues at hand." President Coin wears a triumphant and evil grin. "Now continuing with our other subjects."
I zone out for the rest of the meeting.
As I reach my room, I realize that my roommate is gone forever. I miss Prim so much. I muster all my strength and force myself through the door. Right when I am about to collapse on my bed, a fist bangs rapidly at my door.
I open it to find a very pissed off Leilani waiting on the other side. "What the hell were you thinking Katniss? How could you even consider the option of continuing the Games?"
"I don't know!" I yell back. "I just know that the Capitok deserves to experience at least a small portion of the suffering and other shit we went through!"
"We fought so hard to stop the Hunger Games and you just want to ensue it? The Capitol children aren't the ones responsible for this. If anyone, President Snow should be the one who gets punished!"
"Those parents need to feel what it's like to lose their children. Those children need to feel what it's like to lose a sibling or friend. Plus, I heard Snow has a granddaughter. That would be great to hurt him that way." I retort with icy venom dripping off every word. I laugh coldly and almost insanely.
Leilani just glares and shakes her head. "His granddaughter is dead. We killed her during the battle. Plus, his grandson, aka Colton, is dead too. But wow, this is a whole side of you that I didn't even know existed. I thought I was supposed to be the sadist, but I guess I was wrong!"
"Shut up! We are going through with the Games and taking revenge on the Capitol and Snow. That is final!" I demanded harshly.
Leilani pauses, her eyes piercing me like daggers. Her words are slow and quiet, but still filled with bitter rage nevertheless.
"You may be the Girl on Fire, but your heart is as cold as fucking ice."
She storms off and I slam the door. Then, I just run to my bed, fall on top of my covers, and cry like I've never cried before. I cried for pretty much everything: my lost home, my dad, Rue, Prim, and the hurtful words that just flew out of Leilani's mouth and slapped me senseless.
I sobbed for hours until I fell asleep to suffer the hellish nightmares that await me.
Leilani POV
I shouldn't have said that to Katniss. Why am I so damn stupid sometimes? I can't just waltz right back to her room and apologize though. I should just give her space for maybe a day until we both calm down. I sigh heavily and lean my head back in my chair. I close my eyes and replay my little scene with Katniss when I feel warm lips press gently against mine. I smile into the kiss and pull away. My husband always knows how to cheer me up.
Maybe Gale should try to cheer Katniss up with full disclosure between them. They need to forgive and forget if they want to stay close. I get out of my chair and grab Cayden's hand. Our fingers intertwine and I pull him with me to the door.
"Where are we going?" Cayden laughs.
"To see Gale." I reply smoothly.
When I reach his room, my jaw drops slightly.
It's empty, completely empty. No. There has to be a mistake. I must be in the wrong room. But Cayden points to a note on the freshly made bed and I know what happened.
"Leilani," Cayden reads the note out loud. "I'm sorry, I just can't be here anymore. I love Katniss, I really do, but how can I be in the same room as her knowing that she'll never forgive me for taking her sister away. I went off to District 2 because I need to collect my thoughts and clear my head. This is for the best... for Katniss and me. I'm sorry. Gale."
"Shit." I curse under my breathe.
I need to see her. I need to apologize to her. I need to be there for the girl who saved me from starvation and insanity. I owe her that much.
"We have to visit Katniss." I sigh and Cayden nods his head before wrapping an arm around my waist.
When we reach her room, I can hear screaming and cries emanating through the door. I rush to open the door and see Katniss thrashing around in her bed calling for Peeta, Gale, and Prim. Cayden and I manage to hold her down and calm her before she just breaks down into wracking sobs. I climb onto the bed and stroke her hair like she did with Prim to soothe her. Katniss still kept weeping.
"Shhh...Everything will be okay, Katniss." I coo to her, but her crying doesn't cease. So then, I did what I haven't done since my years in District 12.
I clear my throat and force my tears from falling.
"Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise." My voice cracked as tears dripped freely down my face. "Here it's safe, here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here is where your dreams are sweet and tomorrow proves them true. Here is the place where I love you."
Katniss is barely sobbing now. Just tears flowing down her pretty face. I wipe my face and stroke her long soft hair. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was just being hot headed. Forgive me?"
She nods her head sleepily as I tuck her in and give her a kiss on the forehead.
"You'd make a great mother, Dusk." Cayden jokes when we leave Katniss' room. I punch him playfully on the arm. But secretly, I know deep inside that's what Cayden probably wants.
Cayden POV
It was a long shot, but I tried. I always hint here and there that I want kids, but I'm not sure she catches on. Even if she did, I doubt she desires the same thing I do. But I understand why she wouldn't want kids. It's because this is not over yet. Snow's execution is in two days and once he's gone, there's still President Coin to deal with...
Who knows what will happen?
Katniss POV
Presiden Coin is allowing me to speak with Snow the day before I execute him. I'm about to enter the elevator when Leilani calls for me.
"Is there something wr-"
She quickly cuts me off. "I want to go with you to see him. President Coin said it was okay if I could. Please." Her eyes are pleading desperately, so of course I oblige. I didn't really want to go alone anyway. But then, I notice something in Leilani's hand. She jerks the device out of my sight and I get a bad feeling that she has something planned for Snow.
Leilani POV
I hide the communication device from Katniss' prying eyes. Beetee and I worked together to hatch a plan for revenge on Snow. He wanted to avenge his close friend Wiress and I wanted to avenge my family and pretty much every damn thing Snow ruined for me. We didn't tell anyone of our secret (not even my husband or President Coin).
I'm not just going to let Snow off the hook with a quick execution